If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Maybe, maybe not. You have to understand how hard it is to come back as an unknown. You all know me but in a couple months I will be invisible to 99% of the paintball world. Thats just the way it is.

Well, the other 1% will never forget what you did for this game. You have changed this sport in a way that no one can and ever will say is bad. Good luck with the rest of your business ventures. I will never forget what you have done for this game.

With the recent acquisition of Worr Games Product by K2, Bud Orr is slowly but surely easing into retirement from the game. With Tomís announcement, the Paintball Community has lost its last Titan.

Many of the younger players now will probably not remember who these two men were and what it was that they did for the sport. Many of us are too busy tweedling with our guns trying to make them bounce and make them perform in ways that a lot of people use to say only a few years back to be impossible.

What Bob Gurnsey and Hayes Noel started, Tom and Bud took to the next level. In the hay days of these men, paintball wasnít so much an industry as much as it was a community. To those that followed them then, all the things made and actions taken were for the love of the game. With the recent environment that has befallen paintball, men concerned with the community are now replaced by those whose only concern is the bottomline. In a capitalist society, thereís nothing wrong with that. But capitalism wasnít the motivation or the catalyst for the explosive growth of the sport. It was the players, the people who led the community and their collective love of the game.

Letís face it, if Tom was all about greed, he would have been in the position to greatly capitalize on many of the things that he created. From the first recorded use of an electronic trigger on a paintball gun to the introduction of the use of compressed air, he was in the thick of things. He knew that if he was to fully exploit the commercial potential of his work, he would stifle the growth of his community. He chose instead to do what was best for all.

Today, I express my sadness because one of the gameís last remaining titans is departing. It is with a great deal of fondness that I say Thanks and Farewell to Tom. Whatever heights we reach as an industry is only possible because you allowed us to stand on top of your shoulders for a very long time.

Tom, you know you'll be missed. I was first introduced (back) into painball with a mag, and had lots of fun, and met many great friends, because of it. No one here begrudges your retirement; guess we should've seen this coming. You are one of the great pioneers of the sport. I know that, 20 years from now, when this sport may be big enough, people will look back on the beginnings of it, and your name will be amongst the few that advanced this sport. Good luck to you and your family, take care, and I hope we will meet again one day soon. Best of luck to you.

Its sad to hear that you're going, but I'm sure AGD is in good hands. What are you planning on focusing now that you are out of the paintball industry? Whatever it is I wish you the best of luck, its been a blast. You've been a great role model and friend to us all, i mean what other president would take the time to answer questions for a kids school project. Only you.

Farewell Tom. When I see that pic from 1991 I will laugh, but not because you guys look a little goofy (sorry), but because I will think of the man who stuck his tongue in the breech of a mag, and shoot it, to prove that AGD is awesome. Thanks for my markers, and good luck with whatever you do.

Tom i never you personlly, but its sad to see you go, even we do share one big moment in each others life, for me it was calling game over on top of The Temple of Doom when you claimed the flag to defeat Shatner, knowing i'm seeing one of the great minds of paintball and of course for you to win that. all in all good luck and thanks for everything

Tom

I thank you for contributing as much as you have to the paintball community. I recently purchased a few automags (used, from makeshift @ mcarterbrown.com) and have been pouring through the online manual for the level 7 while waiting for them to arrive. I am very impressed, the manuals read exactly like they should and are the best I've seen in paintball related fields. I'm sure your VP will put as much effort as you have into AGD,s fine product. In closing I would like to invite you to visit www.mcarterbrown.com, Im sure myself and the other members would be more than happy to chat with you from time to time. Once again thank you Tom.

Can you fill us in on Dave Zupan? Perhaps he can answer a few questions?

Does he own AGD now witht he inventory he bought? Partner, and TK as a now silent partner?

What is his history with AGD and paintball in general. Is he an engineer?

And most importantly, does Dave Zupan love paintball? Does he have a passion for it, or is it just a job. This concerns me most. What I loved so much about certain companies was the fact that the man in charge had a love for paintball.

Tippmann, WGP, were once owned and run by men who loved paintball. Will AGD continue on with someone who cares not only about making a living, but loving what they are doing?

Good luck tom. You made paintball what it is today for me. Your product brought me into the sport and in business. I hate to see this happen but you have to do what you have to do. Like I said good luck and april and I give our best wishes for you.

You're a man of unequalled patience to have stayed in as long as you have under the circumstances. You've done alot of good for the paintball community and I pray it comes back around to you in some form.